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How Martial Law In America Will Affect You

By: Wendy McElroy | Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Martial law occurs when the military or militarized law enforcement replaces
civilian authorities in order to impose military rule during an emergency.
Civil liberties are suspended. In the United States, a pivot point that signals
martial law is the suspension of habeas corpus - the right to a hearing on
whether an imprisonment is lawful. In practice, habeas corpus means a person
cannot be imprisoned without legitimate charges and due process. The U.S.
Constitution recognizes the suspension of habeas corpus as an identifying
feature of martial law in Article I, Section 9, "The Privilege of the Writ
of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion
or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

Obama is preparing to declare martial law in America. He may decide not to
do so but it is a prepared option that requires nothing more than the say-so
of one man. The necessary Executive Order has been authorized. The National
Defense Resources Preparedness grants Obama power over "resources and services
needed to support...plans and programs" in "the event of a potential threat
to the security of the United States." The grant of authority is so complete
that it includes the ability to commandeer technology, industry, and the
nation's other resources down to its ""food
resources, livestock resources, and the distribution of farm equipment and
commercial fertilizer."

The legal framework for martial law is in place.

The signs are unmistakable. They include: Homeland Security recently purchased
$1.6 billion worth of ammunition for domestic use by its 100,000+ armed enforcement
agents; it also acquired thousands of military-style armored vehicles.

The clearest sign, however, is the National Defense Authorization Act - the
federal legislation through which the budget and expenditures of the Department
of Defense are specified each year. In 2012, Sec. 1021 of the act allowed
the military to arrest and imprison an American on American soil without
habeas corpus if he was deemed to have "committed a belligerent act or has
directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces" (e.g. the
Taliban). The 2013 act included the same provision. In short, the NDAA authorized
indefinite detention without due process. The 2014 act is currently under
debate. It would expand the military's power over the civilian population
through Sec. 1061 which is also known as Enhancement of Capacity of the United
States Government to Analyze Captured Records. It authorizes the surveillance
of an individual solely on the basis that he is or has been hostile to the
United States. In short, the new NDAA would authorize indefinite surveillance.

The enforcement mechanism for martial law is in place. What would it look
like?

There is no need to speculate. The police response to the Boston Marathon
bombings provides a glance into what Americans can expect in the event of
another terrorist attack or domestic unrest. Or, rather, it provides an example
of a kinder, gentler martial law than is likely to occur. It is kinder and
gentler because the agents in Boston had no reason to be hostile to the civilian
population; they had the specific goal of capturing a fugitive rather than
the general one of policing the population; no one resisted; and, the agents
could have faced consequences such as lawsuits if they had inflicted injury.
Most martial law scenarios are likely to be more brutal.

On April 15, 2013, three people were killed and hundreds injured when pressure
cooker bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon. Two brothers named Tamerlan
and Dzhokhas Tsarnaev became suspects. Tamerlan died, Dzhokhas escaped. An
unparalleled manhunt occurred on April 19.

The Boston
Globe (June 8) explained why law enforcement's response was so
coordinated. "The [police training] scenario had been carefully
planned: A terrorist group prepared to hurt vast numbers of people
around Boston would leave backpacks filled with explosives at Faneuil
Hall. But two months before the training exercise was to take place,
the city was hit with a real terrorist attack executed in a frighteningly
similar fashion."

The mainstream media reported that "officers in body armor were going door-to-door
checking if families were safe" and checking out homes to find the fugitive.
(Los Angeles Times, April 19) The unreported reality was more disturbing.

Watertown, a bedroom community of Boston, was one of the areas put on "shelter-in-place" -
an emergency procedure that is most often associated with chemical spills.
The procedure involves people staying indoors, mostly in their homes, while
the danger is handled by authorities. It is a form of martial law with law
enforcement replacing the military as actors. Civil liberties are suspended,
of course.

When the fugitive was spotted in Watertown, agents in riot gear descended
on 20 blocks of the town, accompanied by armored personnel carriers. The
civil liberties of residents were suspended by the pronouncement of one word: "manhunt." Two
syllables - that's how quickly totalitarianism descends.

With dogs and without warrants, the agents went from house to house and forced
people to vacate at gun point. Residents in robes were driven into the street
and not allowed to turn off lights, lock doors, secure pets, or grab a cell
phone. No questions were permitted. One video shows an agent violently slapping
people's elbows upward to force hands behind their heads. Another shows a
soldier in a tank pointing his rifle at a photographer. The following video
entitled "MSNBC Host Caught Lying About Watertown Martial Law" describes
typical encounters. The lies? No tanks were used, no guns were pointed at
families.

In the end, Dzhokhas was apprehended only after the lock-down of Watertown
ended and the agents had departed. A resident discovered Dzhokhas hiding
in his backyard and reported him to the police. The agents had overlooked
the fugitive's presence.

The lock-down of the Boston area is not an isolated incident. It is part of
a well-funded, coordinated federal program called Operation Urban Shield.
(The Boston training exercise received a $200,000 grant from Homeland Security.)
The Urban Shield website states, "The overarching goals of Urban Shield include
striving for the capability to present a multi-layered training exercise
to enhance the skills and abilities of regional first responders, as well
as those responsible for coordinating and managing large scale events." Law
enforcement is being trained to impose martial law. Americans are being
trained to obey without question.

People sometimes marvel over how a civilized populace like the pre-Nazi Germans
were blind to the approach of totalitarianism. How could they miss the signs?
Most Americans are missing the hint presented by armored personnel vehicles
rolling into a peaceful community. They prefer media lies to the sight of
agents aiming their guns at typical American families. That preference will
also facilitate martial law.